Weighing in at 2 pounds, 2.9 ounces, not bad for a paperback, this book provides 707 pages and nine distinct chapters of different kinds of writings that Horace Kephart (1862-1931) completed. Each of the chapters is adroitly introduced, so the reader comes away with a deep understanding of Horace Kephart. A librarian by trade and in the early part of his life, Kephart famously abandoned his wife and his job in St. Louis, under some pressure from both, and landed in the Smoky Mountains – literally in what is now part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at first. During his lifetime he was most well-known for writing about camping and secondarily about mountaineers, but he also wrote about the Cherokees and guns, and even indulged in writing promoting the creation of the National Park and some fiction. Although obviously designed to satisfy the aficionados, even casual readers will find considerable fascination here.
Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2020. 707 pages with appendices, Notes, Selected Bibliography, Index, and photos. Trade paperback.